Paul Townend joined Friday Night Racing on Off The Ball where he ran the rule over some of the horses he is looking forward to riding that the Dublin Racing Festival.
With eight Grade Ones spread over the two days, Townend is in the enviable position as Willie Mullins stable jockey to have plenty of equine talent to choose from.
The decisions on what horses to ride "sometimes pick themselves" admitted Townend, while he can also lean on the experience of Ruby Walsh, David Casey, David Mullins, Danny Mullins and Patrick Mullins, who all ride work at Closutton, when deciding what Mullins horse to plump for.
Paul Townend five to follow
Townend spoke about a handful of horses he is excited about riding over the weekend.
What a finish!
Grade 1 success for Chacun Pour Soi, who holds off stablemate, Min to land the spoils for @WillieMullinsNH
👏🐎👏 pic.twitter.com/B1vVX0ykHg— Horse Racing Ireland (@HRIRacing) February 1, 2020
Chacun Pour Soi: "He is electric, the swagger he showed and the way he moved through the race at Christmas was exceptional. Then you throw Min into the mix, it is going to be a tough test again. He beat him in the race last year and we will need everything to go right again.
"He has the power, racing is just so easy and natural for him but he is very clever and assured in what he is doing. It is what you want in a real two-miler."
Appreciate It: "It is not the norm to see so many horses lining up, but it is good to see everyone supporting the race. It would be worse if we had a horse where we had to use a certain tactic on, he seems fairly simple, Appreciate It. We will be keeping it as simple as we can. He probably surprised me at Leopardstown at Christmas by the way he won. If we can get him there in similar form on Sunday he will take a lot of beating."
Monkfish: "He is a big horse, he was a big raw horse last year and he is still growing up. It was just ability that saw him through last year. when he won in Cheltenham he was headed at the back of the last and he was pricking his ears all the way down the straight and when I gave him a tap he took off again, he thought his job was done when he was in front.
"He is learning the whole time. Then he made the running in his two chases so he is growing and maturing all the time.
Saldier: "Honeysuckle is exceptional but Saldier didn't run as badly as his finishing position suggested at Christmas, I thought. I think he is open to improvement again, it is nice to get a second racecourse run into him quickly."
Melon: "He is a very very classy individual, he was a runner up in the Marsh Chase last year and in a couple of Champion Hurdles. He ran a cracker at Christmas, he is only two pounds below Kemboy and finished behind him at Christmas. I thought he might still be able to improve a bit more. Three miles might bring out a bit of improvement in him too. There is only a jump in the difference between them."
Read Willie Mullins's thoughts on day one of the Dublin Racing Festival here.
Read Willie Mullins's thoughts on day two of the Dublin Racing Festival here.
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